This interview with the new Chair of our peak body Universities Australia, sees Vice Chancellor of La Trobe John Dewar assess how we are doing as a sector and interpret the gauntlet thrown at us by Minister Tudge in his recent speech. John gives a rich picture of the complexity of the commercialisation and campus return issues. He outlines how moves to differentiate on function and by discipline will continue to provide an opportunity for place-based strategies and major forays into the very competitive global online markets. But his message to the sector, in one of his first public statements as UA Chair, is to pay tribute to the culture change and skills development that has taken place sector-wide whilst recognising how much further there is still to travel.